Accessibility statement

Maids & Mistresses, Wives & Widows: Women’s Lives in Eighteenth-Century England - HIS00074C

« Back to module search

  • Department: History
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Elizabeth Spencer
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: C
  • Academic year of delivery: 2022-23

Module summary

What was life like for women in eighteenth-century England? Did they live a restricted existence controlled by fathers, masters, and husbands, or did they in fact exercise more agency than this in their day-to-day lives? These are the questions we will explore in this module as we move through some of the different stages in an adult woman’s life cycle, including marriage, pregnancy and childbirth, spinsterhood, and death. We will think about how different women experienced these stages, as well as what was expected of them by wider society. By doing so we will consider not just the importance of gender, but also the impact of socio-economic position on women’s lives, as we hear from individuals ranging from poor unwed servants to ladies at the head of their own household.

Women’s voices – and those of poorer women in particular – are often difficult to find, and we will therefore look across a range of sources in order to recover them. In addition to letters and diaries, we will consider some more unfamiliar sources like court records, ballads, wills, ‘how-to’ manuals, and printed images. The eighteenth century was a period in which a growing body of conduct literature stressed that women should be frugal, modest, and subject to the authority of men, but by exploring these different sources we will build up a richer and more complex picture of their everyday lives and experiences.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Spring Term 2022-23

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

  • To give an intensive introduction to an unfamiliar period and/or approach to the study of history;
  • To offer experience in the use of primary source materials;
  • To develop skills in analysing historiography; and
  • To develop core skills such as: bibliographical search techniques; source analysis; essay writing; giving presentations; and, undertaking independent research.

Module learning outcomes

Students who complete this module successfully will:

  • Acquire an insight into an unfamiliar period and/or approach to history through intensive study of an aspect of the period and/or an approach to it;
  • Gain experience of analysing primary source materials;
  • Be able to evaluate an historical explanation;
  • Have further developed work undertaken in the Autumn Term lecture courses and skills portfolios, including historical analysis, note-taking, using primary sources, presenting to groups, and leading discussions in seminars;
  • Be able to construct a coherent historical argument in oral and written forms

Module content

Teaching Programme:

Teaching will be in weekly 2-hour seminars taught over nine weeks, plus an overview and revision session in Week 2 of Summer Term. Each week students will do reading and preparation in order to be able to contribute to discussion.

Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:

  1. Introduction: Women and the life cycle

  2. Women in service

  3. Marriage and the household

  4. Women, crime, and the courts

  5. Menstruation, pregnancy, and childbirth

  6. Spinsterhood

  7. Women in business

  8. Women and textiles

  9. Death: Understanding probate records

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled)
Open Exam - Maids & Mistresses, Wives & Widows		 8 hours 100

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

Formative work:

During the Spring Term students will prepare a presentation in pairs or small groups. Tutors will determine the formative work for the course: all groups will present on a primary source. Formative work will be completed in one or more sessions at the tutor’s discretion.

Summative assessment:

An open exam in the Common Assessment Period, comprising one essay question chosen from five options

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled)
Open Exam - Maids & Mistresses, Wives & Widows		 8 hours 100

Module feedback

Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.

Work will be returned to students in their discussion groups and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their procedural work with their tutor (or module convenor) during student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.

For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 20 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.

Indicative reading

For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:

Vickery, Amanda. The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s lives in Georgian England. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999.

Barker, Hannah, and Elaine Chalus, eds. Women’s History: Britain, 1700-1850. An Introduction. London: Routledge, 2005.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.